Hoops

Olympics: Opals vs France

There's an old saying in Basketball : ' Get loose .'

I'd be unable to play properly with this Opals coach.
Tooo nervous for me.
Shut up and let them play.

"College ball is a long way from WNBA/WNBL and the Olympics"

And the WNBL is a long way from the WNBA or even EuroLeague.

That's my point.......

"College ball is a long way from WNBA/WNBL and the Olympics"

And the WNBL is a long way from the WNBA or even EuroLeague.

College ball is a long way from WNBA/WNBL and the Olympics.....SMU play in one of the weakest comps for women,
Don't compare USA Stewart to the rest in college, she was outstanding from day one, and even she isn't a main player YET for USA.

All these names being thrown around need to be able to make the transition into women's basketball, and those in college now will still be in college by next worlds.

It's not saying any of them aren't good players for their age, but be realistic

Undersized?
194cm currently. No doubt she will end up 6'5.

Seebohm was only offered 1 year - hence no longer there. Goriss not at COE but still in Canberra and should coach 19s if any sanity prevails.

Frolings, Scherf, Smith etc. all fringe senior national players at their very best.

Magbegor an undersized centre, definitely not a PF, no range and won't ever have range, can't facilitate. Occasional rim protecting highlights and slashing to the basket will be her thing. Can shot block at low post but can only really defend the 5, not an elite team defender.

One he would point to for both Burton and Hodges is that in five official internationals this year (3 at OQT, 2 in Rio) Endy Miyem was averaging 15.2p at 60%, 3.4or and 2.6a. Against the Opals she had 10p at 36%, 0 o-boards and 1a.

The two of them did a super job, especially keeping her off the offensive glass.

Waiting for end of Olympics stats on Burton and how Joyce could justify her spot.

Doesn't seebohm head nsw develop now?
Nsw certainly need him.

A lot of our u19 team will become opals in the future. No doubt in my mind.
Our biggest issue is that pf position.

We really don't have any nice young prospects in the wnbl atm for that position.
Too old or undersized.
Mijovic, Thompson and Garbin Spring to mind.

Froling has been fantastic at Smu.
Smith hasn't played extensive minutes at Stanford but was one of our best at worlds.
Magbegor still only 17. Too early perhaps.
A few young girls at Coe that are a long way away.

Gorris is out of CofE now he's at the helm of Canberra WNBL , doubt he would be doing un19 worlds

Seebohm was arguably the best coach in the WNBL and I believe he then turned down a contract extension. He's certainly considered good enough.

Point is, most of those you are listing will never be any good. In AFL terms they are called list cloggers - average players at a point in time who will never be great.

Get them out of the way while we rebuild after this event.

Seebohm is almost completely unproven but shows promise.

Nice guy - tick
Coaching pedigree - not considered good enough for WNBL
Coach of u17 world champion team - major tick - smart enough to work well with assistants and gifted with a new golden generation of talent.
So, time will tell. Give him the COE gig, let him assist Goriss at u19 worlds and develop him, just like you should the young playing talent coming through.

At this point Kobz, yes. I believe FIBA are looking at the women's side of things now, but I doubt there is the revenue to run home and away WC qualifiers like the men at this stage.

Rest will still be in college and NO experience playing against women, those in the WNBL would be better than the college kids of Smith and Froling, Cof E kids probably still too young

^^ Burton and George if they have not improved by now another three years will not make much difference, they will just be even slower, Blicavs, SCHERF and Bunton will be in their prime with plenty of experience under their belts too

So the changes to the international schedule only apply to the men?

I think Tolo is the better player over the other 2 both at centre and pf.
IMO both George and burton will be replaced by some of the younger players.

Maybe
SF/PF
6'2 K.Froling-wnbl
6'2 Blicavs-wnbl
PF
6'3 A.Froling-college
6'3 Aokuso-Coe
6'4 Smith-college
6'5 Mijovic-wnbl
C
6'4 Magbegor-Coe
6'5 Scherf-wnbl
6'5 Bunton-Wnbl

I could be wrong..
Burton and George might outperform some of these girls in 3 years time.
Interesting times though..

Kobz, FIBA created a new calendar for men based on getting more of the best players at the WC. The main strategy to achieve that is making the WC the qualifier for the Olympics, hence the move to the year beforehand.

Another strategy is having only one continental championship every four years (currently every two) so players have one year every four where there isn’t a tournament in the off-season. FIBA decided to make that the middle year (ie 2018, 2022 etc) and have the women’s WC as the showpiece basketball event of that year.

Anon, George and Burton are the same age as Tolo, why wouldn't they be playing the worlds at age 29?
Mitchell and Phillips would be 33, younger than what Taylor is now, if they want to keep playing I would think both would be capable.

Women in 2018, men in 2019.

Apologies for incorrectly correcting you Luuuc

Players most likely to play at next international tournaments
Lavey
Ebzery
Jarry
Talbot
Tolo
Cambage

Probably last major tournament (world's/olympics)
Mitchell
Phillips
Taylor
Hodges
George
Burton

Thats a hell of a lot of experience to lose.

Definitely a major rebuilding phase after rio.

Sandy might be mentoring herself out of a job the way Phoenix is travelling this season.

Following that up with a link to the article about Brondello and Taylor
http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/brondello-knows-opals-have-game-to-beat-usa/3073137/

In related news, I read Brondello has been prepping Taylor for an ass't gig with the Mercury.

Women in 2018, men in 2019.

2019 is the next WCs (not 2018).

That extra year will see a lot of aging players retire from international basketball after this Olympics.

The time she has missed (other than the ACL recovery itself) was all voluntary though. She has just been super smart with her workload, with the aim of being 100% for these Olympics and then being able to have a crack at one last WNBA title when they're over. Skipping the last WNBA season, opting for a partial Chinese season over playing WNBL ... she has timed it perfectly. The ultimate pro.

I've got no doubt she could manage her body through another 2 years if she wanted to. She just doesn't want to, and fair enough too. It'd be a long commitment for very little financial reward. (If 2018 was an Olympic year rather than a WC one, I suspect it might be a different story)

It's entirely possible she knows her body won't hold up another year. She's missed a lot of time since she went down with the ACL.

It is a shame, yes. She wants to go out on her own terms and while she is still playing good basketball rather than waiting until she is no longer wanted, and I totally respect that.
But from a selfish viewpoint, even when she slows down even further she'd still be an instant inclusion in the 2018 WC team due to her basketball iq. She's the Opals all-time leader in that category, with daylight in second place and night time in 3rd.

Good win v France - somewhat of a bogey team...

They seemed to miss Dumerc more then I thought, she was a main reason for the win v the opals in 2012.

Great to see Taylor play so well. Shame she is hanging up the boots, she still have a lot to offer.

Another top performance by our superstar Opals, Cambage and Taylor the render covering the limited contribution from Joyces mistakes.
Just wait for team USA and the real time medal contenders.

USA are going to eat the opals and watch Joyce choke when the finals start and over play Burton, Lavey, Hodges.

Can't wait for it to get serious and the girls play a team that are contenders. So far it's been far from impressive from anyone outside Cambage and Taylor.

watching/listening to the timeouts, the team are executing what Joyce wants. Harmony appears great! Liz also is on board.

It was good for Liz to get a good rest during this game, she will be the difference against a smaller Japanese team, expect her to have a massive game.

Great win!

Olympics: Taylor stars as Opals defeat France, win third straight

Also, great to see Hodges back in the rotation, she's an important player for us.

You nailed it the other day Luuuc when you talked about the offence in Turkey two years ago, quick ball movement and the players just taking what the defence gave them. It was beautiful to watch.

With Cambage in the middle it has changed, she can't really play that style, but she is a great focal point so needs to be used.

It was forced by foul trouble but I think tonight showed it works best with Liz in smaller doses as a focal point and then quick moving team offence the rest of the time.

Great win, now 3-0 and +41, can't complain about that. Now for Japan, they could well be an interesting test.

Much better performance by the team. Liz fouling herself to the bench early was almost a blessing in disguise in a way. Movement was far better, and Hodges & Tolo did well with their minutes.
Strange use of Talbot - entering the game in the 1st quarter but that was about it for her.

Penny's ridiculous game made it a bit flattering though. Still significant improvement needed, but at least we looked a better team than in games 1 & 2.

Penny Taylor 31 points and 1 assist shy of an Olympic double double.

Lol,
burton 49 minutes played for 2 rebounds, 4 points and 2 assists total.

3 from 3 great start by the team. Fine tuning will see further improvement.

Still cannot believe the number of "haters" posting negative comments

Burton 2 rebounds, 1 ast. 13:38
Lavey 3 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, 5 turnovers. 14:57

Night all. Sleep in Wed night...7.30 Thurs US v Boomers..

his ego..

Final score 89-71

PFT 31 points @ 77%, 9 assists, 5 boards, 3 steals & a block celebrating the 10 year anniversary of her nickname in the same country she earned it.

I would love to know why Joyce is such a fan of Burton. She is horrible and barely gets by in WA SBL let alone on the International stage.

That was a light call on the french by the same ref

Get that rwf some glasses. Rewound that and no where near out.

USA, Spain and Canada have looked better so far this tournament.
Japan might surprise.

Taylor absolute legend and role model for all female players. Vision to die for and effort effort and effort with a big sprinkle of self belief